HY^NA. 299 
strength of limbs, and by a remarkable fulness or 
thickness of the snout. It colour is a pale grey- 
ish-brown accompanied by a tawny cast; and the 
whole body is marked by several distant blackish 
transverse bands running from the back down- 
wards : these bands are much more numerous as 
well as of a deeper colour on the legs : from the 
neck along the upper part of the back runs a 
strong bristly mane : the snout or nose is black ; the 
ears are longish, sharp-pointed, and nearly naked : 
the tail is rather short than long, and is very full 
of hair. On all the feet are four toes. 
Hyaenas generally inhabit caverns and rocky 
places: they prowl about chiefly by night, and 
feed on the remains of dead animals as well as on 
living prey. They are even said to devour the 
bodies which they occasionally find in cemeteries. 
They attack cattle, and frequently commit great 
devastation among the flocks. Though not gre- 
garious from any social principle, they sometimes 
assemble in troops, and follow with dreadful assi- 
duity the movements of an army, through the 
hope of feasting on the slaughtered bodies. 
There is something in the aspect of the Hygena 
which seems to indicate a peculiar gloominess 
and malignity of disposition, and its manners in a 
state of captivity seem in general to correspond 
with its appearance, being savage and untracta- 
ble. It has even been supposed that the Hy^na 
cannot be tamed; but this opinion is proved to 
be erroneous from two instances at least; one of 
which is recorded by Mr. Pennant, who declares 
